Strip dispensing mechanism



Nov. 2, 1937, c, FURRER 2,097,788

STRIP DISPENS ING MECHANISM Filed June 19, 1954 -INVENTOR AT ORNEYS- Patented Nov. 2, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE STRIP DISPENSING MECHANISM Application June 19, 1934, Serial No. 731,241 In Switzerland June 23, 1933 3 Claims.

The present invention relates to a novel and improved strip dispensing device and more particularly to such a device adapted to deliver and sever stamps or tickets from a roll or strip con- '5 tained' within the casing of the device.

Objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth inpart hereinafter and in part will be obvious herefrom, or may be learned by practice with the invention, the same. being realized 10 and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations pointed out in the appended claims.

The invention consists in the-novel parts, constructions, arrangements, combinations and im- 15 provements herein shown and described.

The accompanying drawing, referred to herein andconstituting a part hereof, illustrates one embodiment of 'the invention, and together with the description, serves to explain the principles of the invention.

Of the drawing:

Figure 1 is a longitudinalsection taken on the line I! of Fig. 2 and showing an illustrative embodiment of the present invention,

25 Figure 2 is a vertical section of the embodiment shown in Figure 1 and taken on the line 2-2 of that figure,

Figure 3 is a plan view of the embodiment shown in Figures 1 and 2, with certain parts broken away,

Figure 4 is a detail side elevation of a part of the mechanism shown in the preceding figures; and

Figure 5 is a modified embodiment of the invention in which the stamps or tickets are fed from a roll.

The present invention has for its object the provision of a simple means of renewing a stamp or ticket supply, but it also permits a change to be readily made in the stamps to be delivered, for which purpose one magazine is interchanged with another magazine containing other stamps. Moreover the device, in cases where the person- 45 nel is changed in shifts, for example, in postoffices, permits the change over from one shift to another without its being necessary to balance accounts or to take note of the stock, since each oflicial has his magazine allotted to him, which when the change over of shifts takes place can be interchanged against that of the official going off or coming on duty.

Referring now in detail to. the illustrative embodiment shown in Figs. 1 to 4, there is provided abase plate I on which isa casing 2 enclosing all parts of the strip dispensing apparatus. Immediately beneath a longitudinal slot 3 in the casing is arranged a selecting device, which comprises an endless chain 5 guided over two rollers 4, this chain having transverse rods 6 to form t a series of finger holes. The rear one of rollers 4 is connected to drive spur gears I, meshing with gear 8, lying approximately in the middle of the apparatus. A counting mechanism ID for indicating the number of vouchers delivered is driven from gears 1 through gears 9.

Close beneath the upper reach of the chain 5, is a plate H supported by means of two guide arms I2 which are pivotally' mounted in the. casing at I2, and pin l3 connects these arms together for uniform movement relative to one another. Plate H is graduated to correspond with the finger holes of the chain and facilitates the .deliveryof the desired number of vouchers. .Theplate H is connected by means of a connectingjrodM with an oscillatinglever I 5, Which ispivotally mounted by means of a shaft l6 on the casing 2, and has near its free end a roller projection b engaging a slot in bell-crank l9. Springs l8.serve-to hold the plate H in its raised position, vi. e. immediately beneath the upper reach of the chain 5. .Projection b engages in the slot of ,the bell-crank lever 19, 20, the other arm. 20 of which has a projection2l.

Bell-crank H)- at its free end is provided with a detent 22 engaging with a releasing lever 23, which has a notch 24 coacting with the. detent 22'.

An opening .28 in the front wall of easing 2, is normally closedvby a cover 29. Through this opening 28. a:slide 3li' may be introduced into the casing 2 guided in the guideway26. Slide 30 bearsa: magazine 31, which contains the stacked vouchers in strip form and preferably folded zigzag. The magazine 3! lies at the side of the gearing" l, 8, of the oscillating lever l5, of the bell-crank lever [9,..20 and of the releasing lever 23, so that these parts do not interfere with each other in the introduction of the magazine] 34 intothe casing 2.

In the upper part of the magazine 31 there is rotatably mounted a feeding drum 32-,which is rigidly" connected to a toothed wheel 34- having slots 33. The slots 33 correspond to the Voucher subdivisions of the drum132 and when the magazine is pushed in and also when the apparatus is in the position of rest, the projection 2i lies in oneof these recesses, thereby holding the voucher drum locked.

. able knife 39.

A cutting device is provided on the magazine and has a fixed knife 38 and a vertically mov- The movable knife 39 is connected to rod 49, which has a plate 42 provided with a recess M and is acted upon by a tension spring 43, which draws the connecting rod 49 downwards and thereby to hold the cutting device in its closed position. When the 'magazine is pushed in, the arm I9 of the bell-crank lever I9, 20 engages in the recess 4|.

On the magazine 31 there is arranged close beneath the cutting device 38, 39 a plate 44, which closes a recess in the casing in the upper part of the aperture 28, this plate serving as a support for the delivered stamps or tickets.

Assuming that the magazine 3I containing the stamps is pushed into the casing 2 and the magazine contains stamps, the end of the strip of stamps being passed over the drum 32, the plate IIis pressed downward-s, whereupon the arms or links I2 are moved downwardly at-their outermost ends; thus being moved about pivots I2 which causes the inner ends of the arms I2 to be pivoted upwardly. These inner ends are connected by means of pin I3, at least one of the ends being slotted to allow free pivotal movement of the links. The pin I3 also engages the upper end of rod I4 which is caused to move upwardly while the lower end of said rod, being pivoted to lever I5 raises said lever about the pivot I6 shown at the right in Fig. 1. Such movement of the lever I5 which carries roller projection b, raises saidprojection. This projection engages a slot clearly shown in Fig. 1 at the outer end of arm I9 of the bell-crank I9, 20, thus raising the outer end'of arm I9 upwardly about the bell-crank pivot and causing the upper end of arm 29 of the bell-crank to move outwardly to the right, thus simultaneously moving the projection 2I out of the recess 33, and also raising the movable knife'39 by means of the connecting rod 40 and opening the cutting-off device to permit the passage of the selected stamps. The projection 22 is here retained by the pawl 24 in the raised position, so that the apparatus is held ready for the delivery of the stamps, this being also the case when the pressure on the plate I I is released. If

'now the chain be drawn forward, the gearing I, 8,

the wheel 8 of which gears with a wheel 45 fixed on the shaft of the drum 32, transmits the motion to the drum 32 and turns the latter moving the selected stamp out of the'apparatus until the selecting finger abuts against the releasing lever .23, the pawl 24 of which releases the projection 22. -By this means the bell-crank lever I9, 20 is moved back into its original position, so that the projection 2| again comes into a recess 33 of the toothed Wheel 34 and at the same time the movable knife 39 closes the cutting off deviceand cuts ofi" the selected stamp or stamps.

If the magazine 3| is to be removed from the apparatus, after opening the cover 29, a bolt 46 which secures the slide 30 in its position in the casing 2 is withdrawn, whereupon the slide 30 can be moved out of the casing. Laterally projecting -;from one of the vertical plates of the slide 30 is a lug or abutment g, see Figs. 1 and 2. Mounted on the vertical plate of the main part of the device not movable with the slide 39 is a pivoted bell-crank 0 shown in Figs. 3 and 4. At the upper ,end of the bell-crank c is secured a laterally projecting lug or locking bolt d adapted to engage in fradially extending slots e arranged about the periphery of a disc secured to gear 8. The latter gear is one member of the gear train actuated by the chain 5, the gear train in turn revolving the ticket feeding drum 32 and the counter mechanism I9.

Bell-crank c is normally spring pressed about the pivot shown in Fig. 4 into locking engagement with the slots 6. When the magazine slide 30 is inserted into its proper position, the abutment 9 engages the lower end of bell-crank c to pivot the upper end out of engagement with slots 9 and thus render the gear 8 unlocked and free to rotate, which in turn allows the counter mechanism to become operable. It thus obviously follows that when the magazine is withdrawn, the abutment g releases the lower end of bell-crank 0 whereby the upper end of bell-crank e carrying locking bolt 01 is urged by the previously mentioned spring into locking engagement with the slot 6 of gear 8 that is adjacent the bolt at the time. Such looking action secures the counting mechanism against manipulation until such time as another or the same magazine is reinserted into operative position. In the withdrawal of the magazine 3I from the casing 2 the recess 4I is not moved out of engagement with the arm I9 and the latter is preferably held by an abutment not shown in the drawing in the position which it assumes during the withdrawal of the magazine.

If the magazine 3! is to be again introduced into the casing, the slide 39 thereof is slid over the guideway 26 in which movement the arm I9 remains engaged with the recess 4| and towards the end of the pushing in movement the abutthe end of this motionthe gear wheel again comes into engagement with the gear wheel 8, so that the apparatus is again ready for operation. As shown in Figure 4 of the drawing, the gear 8 may be provided with a crown ratchet 1 having notches e cooperating with a detent d on lever c, this lever being pivoted to the inner frame of the device, and normally held by a spring to prevent movement of the gear 8 and the other gears 4, 5 and I. When the magazine is pushed into operative position, a stud 9' projecting from the side of the magazine hits against the lower end of lever c and moves the detent d out of the notches e in ratchet f so as to free the driving gears of the apparatus.

Referring to the modified embodiment shown in Figure 5 of the drawing, the invention is shown as applied to a. device for feeding the stamps or tickets from a'supply roll contained within the casing of the delivering device. As there shown, a roll h of stamps is provided and is held within the magazine by means of the wall It and a pivoted cover 2', which cover can be swung back to permit replacement of the stamp roll. The strip of stamps is led from the roll under rollers q and r, and over the feeding drum 32. A cover 11 is pivoted on the shaft m, and is provided with a depending abutment o which may from it in substantially the manner previously described.

The invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific mechanisms shown and de- 7 scribed but departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the accompanying claims without departing from the principles of the invention and without sacrificing its chief advantages.

What I claim is:

1. A strip dispensing mechanism for dispensing tickets, stamps and the like, including in combination a closed casing, and within the casing a strip supply magazine, a drum rotatably mounted with the magazine for guiding and feeding a strip issuing from the magazine, selecting means and cooperating devices mounted externally of the magazine but connectible with said drum for moving the drum different amounts for dispensing various selected lengths of strip from the magazine, strip-cutting means and means operable by said magazine upon its removal for locking said drum and cutting means, said magazine, drum and strip-cutting means forming an assembled unit which is removable from and insertible into the casing and automatically into operative relation to the remaining mechanism.

2. A strip dispensing mechanism for dispensing tickets, stamps and the like, including in combination a closed casing, and within the easing a strip supply magazine, a drum rotatably mounted with the magazine for guiding and feeding a strip issuing from the magazine, selecting means and cooperating devices mounted externally of the magazine but connectible with said drum for moving the drum different amounts for dispensing various selected lengths of strip from the magazine, strip-cutting means and means operable by said magazine upon its removal for locking said drum and cutting means, said magazine, drum and strip-cutting means being constructed as a unit which unit is removable from and insertible into the casing.

3. A strip dispensing mechanism for dispensing tickets, stamps and the like, including in combination a closed casing, and within the casing a strip supply magazine, a drum rotatably mounted with the magazine for guiding and feeding a strip issuing from the magazine, selecting means and cooperating devices mounted externally of the magazine but connectible with said drum for moving the drum different amounts for dispensing various selected lengths of strip from the magazine, strip-cutting means, said magazine forming an assembled unit which is removable from and insertible into the casing and means automatically operable by said magazine upon its removal for locking said drum against rotation when the magazine is removed.

CARL FURRER. 

